Tabberone's Hall of Shame

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Von Dutch
Hall Of Shame Member

Von Dutch is a multi-national company that seems to sell an experience anlong with merchandies. A quick look at their "stores" web page, at www.vondutch.com, shows a lot of small stores and what could be considered independent dealers, or distributors. It's hard to tell.
What makes Von Dutch tick is harder to figure since the are shutting down auctions of legitimate products and not responding to emails asking why. That earns them this spot. Our opinion has always been that if a company can take the time to search and destroy, they can take the time to answer emails as to why they ordered the termination of the auctions.

Contact email from a seller, May 25, 2004.
eBay email terminating auction, dated May 22, 2004. Please note the high-quality weasel-wording by eBay.
eBay take-down email dated May 22, 2004.
eBay suspension email dated May 24, 2004.
Von Dutch Hat that was listed.
And seller is fighting back but we will see what happens.

eBay Garbage email disclaiming any responsibility for terminating auction by Travis, June 1, 2004.
Follow-up email from Travis about his auction being terminated
Frustration email from Renee, June 22, 2004.

Contact email from Jeff about terminated auction, dated July 22, 2004.
Fighting back email from Jeff dated July 22, 2004.

One resource we often use is the US Patent and Trademark Office web site. It can get you the name of an attorney. On February 26, 2004, attorney Donald S. Grier filed a trademark application for Von Dutch. Checking the California Bar for this name, we get dsglaw@att.net as his email address and information that seems to indicate he is not affiliated with any law firm. But, just because Von Dutch is located in California doesn't mean their attorney is also located there.
So, what's happening? It looks like Von Dutch is on a Witch Hunt and closing legitimate auctions. Shame on you, Von Dutch. May your wooden shoes get termites.
Our new motto, thanks to an eBay seller, So many VeRO Members (and their law firms), so few with integrity.

Rebuttals
In an effort to provide a balanced view, we make the following offer to anyone who feels they have been wrongly accused on this web site.
If you, or your company, have been referenced on these pages, and you would like the chance to post a rebuttal, we will post your rebuttal (provided it is in good taste) so others can read it. The rebuttal must be submitted in a format that can easily be converted into HTML. We reserve the right to alter the rebuttal to make it more readable. However, we will not alter the content (unless there is offensive material to be removed). We also reserve the right to comment on any rebuttal received. Emails protesting the content of this web site may be treated as rebuttals by us at our discretion.
We made this offer a very long time ago and as of September 2008, only AnimieHot.com, in our Hall Of Shame, and Charlotte Perman (Sevenarts in our Hall Of Shame) have chosen to submit a formal rebuttal.